Electronic piano



June 12, 1962 B. F. MlESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 13 Sheets-Sheet 1 BENJAMIN E M/ESSNER INVENTOR.

BY f Z ATTORNEY June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 13 Sheets-Sheet 2 PEDAL LOW FREQ.

MED. FREQ BENJAMIN F. M/ESS/VER INVENTOR.

June 12, 1962 B. MIESSNER 3,033,353

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 BE/VJA MIN 5 M/ESSNER IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 13 Sheeis-Sheet 4 I06 m5 [08- V /07 /05 me "2 //5 [/4 BENJAMl/VE MIESSIVER' W L INVENTQR.

ATTORNEY June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 v 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 BE/VJA M/N F. M/ESS/VER W /2 7; X INVENTOR.

Original Filed June 22, 1950 June 1 2, 1962 15 Sheets-Sheet 6 Q E m t X '4 Q q m g D J 0 H0 FREQUENCY //5 -0M0DULATED 1 a rRA/vsuronH Y T E a, NORMAL m \1 E cams/n g g ,i PANORAM/G sg wc A ALYSER --o-ooo-- 0 6 0 --6 I RELATIVE AMPLITUDES 0F FOUR/ER PART/4L5 OUTPUT FROM PICK-UP AND REED TONE 50 0.2 s.

I I I TONE a w 50- Q E l i I In 20- Q 2 i q /0-- m It PART/AL l NUMBER o 1'5 F 50 I00 I50200| [K0 2 a 4 5678/0 250300 0 FREOUENGY- CYCLES PER SECOND BE/VJA MIN E M/ESSNER IN VEN TOR.

BY @WKW ATTORNEY June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 13 Sheets-Sheet 9 N I /82\L 8 will mm 1 BENJAMIN E M/ES 5 IVER IN V EN TOR.

June 12 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,638,33

- ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 15 Sheets-Sheet 1O BENJAMIN r'". M/ESS/I/Ef? IN VEN TOR.

A 7' TOR/VE Y June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 13 Sheets-Sheet l1 MA GNE T/O PICK-UP BENJAMIN E M/ESSNER IN V EN TOR.

BYE Z A r RNEY June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,

ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 15 Sheets-Sheet 12 g BENJAM/NE-M/ESS/VER IN VEN TOR.

TTOR/VEY III June 12, 1962 B. F. MIESSNER 3,038,363

. ELECTRONIC PIANO Original Filed June 22, 1950 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 E2 3 V////A BE MIA M/N E M/ESS/VER 1N VEN TOR.

' ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,038,363 ELECTRONIC PIANO Benjamin F. Miessner, Miami Shores, Fla., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to The Wurlitzer Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Ohio Continuation of application Ser. No. 169,714, June 22, 1950. This application Mar. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 799,897

24 Claims. (Cl. 841.14)

This invention relates to an electronic musical instrument and more particularly to a novel system and apparatus for producing the characteristic tones of a piano but without the use of strings.

Instruments such as the piano, harpischord, harp and the like produce damped tone vibrations which tones are developed by striking, plucking or otherwise exciting tensioned strings. While the features of my invention are applicable to any instruments or" this class, the description will be related to the piano, because of its universal popularity.

In instruments of the impulsively-actuated, tensionedstring family, steel or other strings are used as the vibratory tone generators. The strings are maintained under considerable tension and for exacting musical requirements the strings must be tuned frequently to the frequencies of the equitempered musical scale used by all instruments. The frequency of these strings is affected by:

(1) Minute, gradual elongation with time, especially during the initial period, that is, when the string is first placed under tension;

(2) Temperature variations of the string and its supporting string frame, and of the wood bridge, wood sound board, etc.;

(3) Moisture content variations in the wood bridge, wood sound board, and other wood parts.

Therefore, with changes in temperature and humidity, every tensioned-string instrument undergoes changes which shift the frequencies of the string vibrators and these shifts in the frequency of the individual strings are not necessarily uniform for all strings.

Furthermore, the aggregate string tension may be so great that exceedingly heavy and massive iron or wood structures are required to withstand these forces. For example, in a piano having some 200 strings, each at about 180 pounds tension, the aggregate string tension is ap proximately 18 tons. Consequently, a grand piano exveeds 1500 pounds in weight and requires a length up to 9 feet to accommodate the long strings required for the low frequencies. Even in small grand and console type pianos the weight may be 500 pounds or more and the height (or length) may be 36 to 40 inches.

Theory discloses that the tensioned string, as a musical tone generator, never attains the theoretically ideal tone in which the overtones are all exactly integral multiples of the fundamental frequency. These overtones, in fact, have been proven to lie higher in frequency than the true, integrally related Fourier partials of theory, and this heightening of frequency increases with the lower relative tension of a given string. Actually, with the normal beats method of tuning pianos wherein a first overtone (2nd partial) of a lower tone is used as the fundamental frequency of the next upper octave, there results a scale of fundamental frequencies which becomes progressively more sharp in the upper scale regions. This is due to the slightly sharp frequency relationship between the 2nd partial and the fundamental of any such tensioned string tone.

While in a given tone the 2nd partial is only a little sharp relative to the fundamental, or 1st partial, when this effect is carried through several octaves of progressive tuning, the top treble tone fundamental frequencies are 3,038,353 Patented June 12, 1962 very considerably sharp relative to the fundamental tone frequencies. This elfect upsets the tone temperament of the scale. Further, in any given tone the higher the relative number of a given partial of the complex tone spectrum of a single string, the more sharp it is with respect to the fundamental or 1st partial so that the higher partials of a given string are progressively more and more sharp.

In the method of tone production herein disclosed, all of the partials of a given tone are in exact, integral relationship among themselves, so that they are all in exact tune with one another. The partials above the fundamental are derived from such fundamental rather than from a string whose vibration characteristics change with the frequency of individual partials. In this respect the tone produced by my apparatus is musically superior to that of the conventional piano and similar instruments.

Apart from, or in addition to, the above stated feature of providing by electronic means a tone musically superior to that of the conventional piano, there exist the problems of producing, in all respects, a good, pianistic, musical tone controlled by percussively actuated piano keys, utilizing completely the conventional playing techniques used in the piano, and capable of faithfully rendering the available, accumulated piano literature with which musicians are familiar.

Instruments have been proposed having short, smalldiamcter, low-tensioned strings, with vibratory bridges, or other piano-like vibratory systems coupled tightly to a string system so as to obtain similar actions and reactions-with suitable mechanico-electro-acoustic translating systems. None of these have been fully satisfactory as to the production of the particular type of musical tone well-known and recognized by musicians as realistic piano tone.

A piano tone starts in a particular way with hammer impact and is influenced markedly by the weight, compliance and damping characteristics of the exciting hammer during its very brief period of contact with the string. After the hammer leaves the string, other factors markedly influence the tone quality and damping characteristics. Among these are the material, stiffness, size, length and tension of the string; the mass, stiifness and damping characteristics of the bridge and sound board at various positions; the vibrational characteristics of the piano case parts and their sound conductive and sound radiating coupling to the air; the shape and volume of the more or less confined air chambers which are inherent in the piano structure; the size and disposition of the sound board; etc. For example, the sound board in upright pianos is in a vertical plane where it itself is an acoustic ballle-board which retards the arrival, particularly of low frequency tones, at the listeners ears (in front of the piano) of the negative (air rarefaction) half cycle of a given tone wave from the back side of the soundboard, so that it cancels only to a small degree the positive half cycle compression wave radiated from the front side of the soundboard. In a grand piano the soundboard is disposed in a horizontal plane so that there is but little of this baffle action especially for the lower frequency tones. Here, considerable neutralization for the lower frequency components occurs since the listeners ears are normally near to, or exactly in, the plane of the soundboard, where positive and negative halves of the same wave cycle reach the ears at practically the same instant and at practically equal amplitudes, especially if the top lid of the piano is in the open position.

Another important factor in piano tone quality results from the use of two or more strings for each note. While these multiple string notes employ identical strings as to size, length and tension, and are struck simultaneously by the same hammer, their combined unison tones are never in fixed phase relation, especially with respect to aoeases .0 their higher overtones, so that these produce, among themselves, a great many combination or beat tones of varying frequency due to summation and difference effects on the asymmetric human ear. The combined tone, therefore, shifts constantly in quality as it subsides in amplitude. Even for single strings the tone quality shifts constantly as its amplitude subsides due to the various damping influences. Among these are mechanical hysteresis in the string itself, air friction of the vibratory string, mechanical hysteresis in the coupled bridge and soundboard and sound radiation losses from the soundboard. Also, the soundboard is not a flat-frequency responsive device; it has broad resonance frequencies which vary along the bridge from end to end so that it'responds more or less to different frequency components of a given string. Its action, in these respects, varies from point to point along the entire bridge so that different individual strings (of the scale of strings) positioned along it and bearing down upon it are responded to in different manners, and the bridge and soundboard react back upon the individual strings in varying manner to change their vibrational characteristics.

The lateral vibrations of piano strings cause modulations of their downward pressure on the bridge. The soundboard is arched upwardly, with its edge restrained from lateral expansion by iron plates plus a massive wood construction, so that the downwardly pressing strings and the upwardly arched soundboard form a normally balanced systemof forces. When a string vibrates laterally, therefore, its varying tension causes a varying pressure on the bridge and soundboard, and this then vibrates in a direction perpendicular to its plane. The strings, within their elastic limits, are almost perfect strings, whatever the direction of their lateral motion, vertical or horizontal planar, or constantly varying in orbital, conicsection, curvilinear motion within the cycle. The soundboard, however, may be compared to a very short, stiff spring whose force-displacement curve is non-linear, so that increasing, downward force-modulations cause less and less downward deflections but the upward forcemodulations cause more and more, nearly linear, displacements. Thus, the bridge and soundboard constitute an asymmetric device which does not respond linearly to the modulations of the string pressure. The bearing of the string on the bridge refers to the small angle of the string axis as it passes over the bridge and down to the hitch pin. For moderate, lateral amplitudes of string vibration this angle is never Zero degrees so that whether the string moves up, down, or horizontally, the bridge feels chiefly only a change of downward pressure. It, therefore, has a strong frequency-doubling action on the soundboard and on the string vibration as heard.

For very large amplitudes of string vibration, however, the bearing angle may become zero, or even reversed, so that when the string is vibrating upwardly it will actually pull the soundboard upwardly. Lateral and downwardly directed string motions, however, continue to set up downward motion of the soundboard, as at the lower vibration amplitudes. For orbital string motions then, where the string motion direction is constantly changing, the soundboard response characteristic is also constantly changing and along with it the tone quality as the string amplitude subsides after excitation.

The piano is, indeed, a complex instrument not even today fully understood and its peculiar characteristic tone is the result of this complex nature.

The piano tone must, in general, have a characteristically unique distribution of energy among its partial frequencies and this must vary in a characteristically unique manner as the tone subsides. Further, these 0112111- acteristics vary in a particular manner through its scale of tones from low bass to high treble. The low bass is very rich in harmonic content due to the great length and relative flexibility of the strings, while the high treble is a relatively simple tone with but a few overtones. In the extreme treble, at over 4,186 cycles per second, the first overtone is 8,372 cycles per second, the second overtone is 12,558 cycles per second and the third overtone is 16,- 744 cycles per second, which is-virtually at the upper hearing limit of the human ear. In addition these overtone frequencies have but low energy due to the shortness and relative stiffness of the string.

Piano strings also develop another system or series of vibrations entirely unrelated to the lateral vibrations ordinarily considered. When the hammer strikes the string a longitudinal impulse is set up in the string which impulse travels to the near and far fixed ends from which it is reflected back to the opposite end where further reflection takes place. This back and forth longitudinal vibration continues in the string until the energy of the vibration is dissipated. It has a fundamental and harmonic partials forming an essentially Fourier series of tone components but this system of tone partials has only a fortuitous relationship with the lateral system of vibrations. It is also much higher in fundamental frequency due to the much higher speed of propagation in the steel wire for longitudinal than for the lateral displacement wave motion of the string. Both, however, are translated into sound by the action of the bridge and the soundboard. The longitudinal vibration is heard by the ear, especially in the lower pitched strings, as a ringing kind of tone superposed on the normal lateral, much lower pitched, vibration tone and can only by chance be harmonically related to it. At the middle and higher pitch registers this longitudinal-vibration tone disappears insofar as the human ear is concerned merely because its pitch rises beyond the range of audibility.

Another entirely foreign part of piano tones is the broad continuous band of frequencies comprising what is termed the piano hammer thump or crack. This is most pronounced in the higher treble tones, is of short duration and is, in effect, a transient. It adds no musical quality to the string tone but, rather, produces only a disturbing impact noise which momentarily blankets the much weaker tone of the string. Since for these higher tone strings the hammer strikes them very near their fixed end, and since the strings are relatively very stiff, the hammer, in effect, strikes an extension of the bridge thereby causing the characteristic, rapidly damped, complex, noise vibration heard as the hammer thump. This grows lower and lower in amplitude relative to the string tone as the strings become longer and longer. The longer strings are relatively more flexible at the striking point toward the bass end of the scale since the-striking point of the hammer-is further removed from the end of the string.

Another characteristic of piano tones (in common with ercussive tones generally) is that they are more complex at the higher amplitudes, that is, for stronger hammer blows the tone is not only louder but its overtone content is relatively greater than at low loudness levels. At low levels the tone is smooth, soft, round, sonorous in quality due to the relatively strong lower partials compared to the weaker and fewer higher partials. At high levels, however, the upper partials increase both in numher and in amplitude relative to the fundamental so that the tone becomes somewhat strident, wheezy or forceful. This is caused by the relatively linear translation of the string vibration by the bridge and soundboard for small amplitudes, and the relative asymmetric translation at high amplitudes which causes doubling and higher order frequency multiplication effects, as previously discussed. In more colloquial English at low volume the tone purrs while at high volume it snarls. These tonal effects are tremendously useful in the expression of musical moods. They are completely absent in the organ and many other instruments whereby such instruments are not nearly as expressive as the piano.

The tone decrement, that is, the rate at which the tone amplitude subsides, varies throughout the range of piano tones. For loW frequency tones it is small while for high frequency tones it is large. Furthermore, this rate of tone decay generally obeys the logarithmic low. At high amplitudes of string vibration the damping losses are higher than at low vibration amplitudes. For this reason a loud piano tone decreases very rapidly at first and then more and more slowly as the tone continues. Consequently, a weakly struck string continues its vibration almost as long as a strongly struck one.

Piano literature has all been composed to suit these characteristics of the piano. In general slower moving passages are kept in the bass tonal range because these tones die down at a relatively slow rate. A quick succession of low tones would hardly allow recognition, by the ear, of the individual notes or tones of the series and the Whole series of differently-pitched bass tones and would be heard merely as a jumble of clashing tones. Consequently, the bass tones are generally used for sustaining quality to maintain a harmonious background for the more rapid and agile passages devoted to the higher pitched tones. The fastest, and generally the most agile, passages of piano literature are reserved for the quick-acting treble tones. The middle regions are devoted to the moderately fast passages. Actually, the very low tones may continue in audible vibration for 25-50 seconds while the highest tones may last only 1 or 2 seconds.

The piano is also provided with damper (that is, pedal) controls which also alter its performance. The soft pedal in a grand piano may shift the exciting hammers so that only one or two of the trio of unison strings are struck. This reduces both the amplitude and the complexity of the combination tone since there are only one or two instead of three unison or near unison tones. In an upright piano, the length of the hammer stroke is reduced so that a given force imparted to the playing key will produce a weaker tone.

The sostenuto pedal of the piano operates a cam mechanism which holds the damper pads away from the strings for those keys which have been struck after the pedal is depressed. This allows such tones to continue free of the dampers while the hands are free to go on with other keys and tones.

The loud edal removes all the dampers from all damper-controlled strings leaving all strings free to vibrate instead of damping each string as soon as the playing key is released. Its use results in maximum loudness but also in much masking of the individual tones. For specific purposes, in the hands of an artist, the loud pedal has many valuable uses. For example, a given chord, or progression of harmonically related tones is much enriched in tonal value because such strings as are not struck by the hammer are free to resonate with components of the struck-string vibrations.

Among the desirable qualities of the highest types of musical instruments, not found in the piano, is variation of the overall quality of its tone. The organ possesses this quality to a high degree because of its use of many different types of tone producers. Electronic organs also possess this very valuable feature, even to a degree much beyond that of a pipe organ, through controlled variations of the electrical circuits whereby the artist has available the entire gamut of musical tone color, each under easy control by a stop tab. Conventional pianos, however, have but one color of tone which must be used for all types of musical literature, irrespective of their moods. This one color tone may, it is true, be varied from strong to weak, that is, from bright to dark, but only with accompanying changes in loudness. It can never be changed to another family of colors or to any one of many colors.

As stated hereinabove, a tensioned string, as a musical tone generator, never attains the theoretically ideal tone in which the overtones are all exactly integral multiples of the fundamental frequency. The present invention makes use of fixed-free, cantilever-beam type of vibrators in the form of small, tuned reeds of novel design and vibration characteristics. These reeds are of small size requiring only small exciting devices whereby I am able to produce an instrument of small size and weight and low cost. The reeds will retain their mass and compliance characteristic constant over long periods of time eliminating all considerations of periodic or subsequent tuning. Associated with each reed is a novel electrostatic magnetic or photoelectric pick-up and electronic translating arrangement whereby my stringless piano produces tones of piano characteristic.

An object of this invention is the provision of a stringless, electronic piano capable of producing the characteristic tones of a piano and employing similar playing techniques.

An object of this invention is the provision of apparatus for producing impulsively-excited string tones without the use of strings.

An object of this invention is the provision of apparatus for producing impulsively-excited string tones having a large and adjustable range of harmonic content.

An object of this invention is the provision of electronic apparatus for producing string like tones having damping rates similar to those of pianos and like instruments.

An object of this invention is the provision of electronic apparatus for producing string-like tones of the impulsively-actuated type with harmonic contents that vary with time in the manners characteristic of the piano and the like.

An object of this invention is the provision of a light weight, low cost, simple, electronic instrument of the piano type but without use of tensioned strings.

An object of this invention is the provision of apparatus for producing tones of impulsively-excited, stringlike characteristics in which the harmonic frequencies are exactly integral multiples of the fundamental frequency.

An object of this invention is the provision of impulsively-excited, string tones from the mechanico-electroacoustic translation of the vibrations of simple, pendular mechanical vibrators.

An object of this invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, mechanical vibrator giving essentially simple pendular vibrations.

An object of this invention is the provision of mechanico-electric translating apparatus capable of transforming a simple, pendular mechanical vibration of a vibrator into strongly peaked electrical vibrations or oscillations.

An object of this invention is the provision of electronic apparatus for transforming strongly-peaked electrical oscillations into tones of adjustable harmonic content.

An object of this invention is the provision of an electronic piano provided with arrangements for producing loud pedal and sostenuto pedal effects identical to such effects available in the best, conventional pianos.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed type of electronic piano including vibration dampers of novel construction whereby termination of the reed vibration does not produce a change in the pitch frequency of the reed.

An object of this invention is the provision of a novel vibratory reed construction for a stringless piano.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed provided with a visco-elastic tuning damper whereby the second and third vibration partials are harmonic with the fundamental vibration.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed provided with a non-energy-absorbing tuner that tunes the second frequency partial to an exact, integral frequency ratio with the fundamental frequency without significant loss of vibration amplitude.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed provided with a tuning member that retunes the first and second vibration frequencies to an exactly integral ratio without significant increase in the normal damping rate of the reed and without significant retuning effect upon the higher frequency partials.

An object of this invention is the provision of an electrostatic pick-up andv vibratory reed arrangem whereby vibrations of the reed produce asymmetrical modulations of the capacity between the .reed and Pick-up.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed and translating arrangement whereby vibrations of the reed produce a translated voltage or current wave of maximum steepness and minimum rate of decay.

An object of this invention is the provision of an electronic piano in which adjustments of tone quality, tone volume and tone damping are obtained by axial and lateral adjustments of a vibratory reed relative to a suitable pick-up.

An object of this invention is the provision of a stringless piano employing vibratory reeds as tone generators, capacitive pick-up electrodes associated with the reeds and including means selectively operable to vary the angular disposition of the pick-up electrodes with respect to the reeds whereby the character of the capacity modulations between the reeds and pick-up electrodes may be altered at will.

An object of this invention is the provision of a vibratory reed and magnetic pick-up arrangement for producing highly-peaked, asymmetrical voltage pulses in response to reed vibration.

An object of this invention is the provision of an electronic piano employing tuned vibrators as tone producers and photoelectric apparatus for translating vibrations of the tuned vibrator into electrical oscillations.

An object of this invention is the provision of an electronic piano having tuned vibrators as tone producers and including a key-operated plucker for exciting the tuned vibrators.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings illustrating several embodiments of the invention. The drawings are for purposes of description and are not intended to define the scope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latter purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts in the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a general, side view, with parts in crosssection, showing the internal arrangement of the parts in an electronic piano made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary end view showing the action of the reed vibration dampers in response to depression of the playing keys and an arrangement for producing a loud pedal effect;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are fragmentary plan views illustrating an arrangement for producing the sostenuto efiect;

FIGURE 5 is a side view of three representative reeds each provided with a visco-elastic tuner-damper;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the low frequency reed shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an isometric view of a reed of different construction;

FIGURE 8 is a side view of another type of reed construction;

FIGURE 9 is a composite and exploded view in isometric, of a three-piece reed construction;

FIGURE 10 is a central, longitudinal, cross-sectional view of another reed construction and showing also a tool for securing the reed lug to the reed base;

FIGURE 11 is a side view of a reed with a non-damp ing type of vibration tuner thereon;

FIGURE 12 is a transverse, cross-sectional "iew taken along the line AA of FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 is similar to FIGURE 12 but showing a non-damping tuner of another form;

FIGURE 14 is a plan view of a vibratory reed and electrostatic pick-up;

FIGURE 15 is an elevation view of the FIGURE 14 reed and pick-up.

FIGURES 16 and 17 are similar to FIGURE 15 but showing other forms of the pick-up.

FIGURE 18 is an isometric view showing an assembly of reeds of different pitch cooperating with a single electrostatic pick-up.

FIGURES 19 to 21 are longitudinal, cross-sectional views taken along the lines A-A, BB and C-C, respectively, of FIGURE 18 to show the progressive change in the angle between the various reeds and the face of the pick-upg FIGURES 22 to 24 are side views of a reed and electrostatic pick-up and showing various positions of the pick-up with respect to the reed end, all positions of the pick-up being such that the face of the pick-up remains normal to the reed axis;

FIGURE 25 illustrates a grounded shield employed in conjunction with the pick-up to increase the abruptness of the capacity changes between the reed and pick-up as the reed vibrates;

FIGURE 26 illustrates a single, pick-up having toothlike projections cooperating with the individual reeds;

FIGURE 27 illustrates the longitudinal adjustability of the reed relative to the pick-up tooth;

FIGURE 28 illustrates the lateral adjustability of the reed relative to the pick-up tooth;

FIGURE 29 is a curve showing an asymmetrical wave having both odd and even numbered components;

FIGURES 30 and 31 illustrate symmetrical waves having only odd numbered components;

FIGURE 32 illustrates the variation in capacity, due to reed vibration, between the reed and pick-up arrangement such as that shown in FIGURE 22;

FIGURE 33 illustrates the relative amplitudes of the Fourier series partials obtained from three diiierent reeds with individual pick-ups arranged in accordance with this invention, and as obtained from the test set-up as shown in FIGURE 34;

FIGURE 34 illustrates a test set-up for analysing the vibration characteristics of a reed in terms of capacity modulations between the reed and a pick-up;

FIGURES 35 to 39 are isometric views showing other specific forms of the electro-static pick-up;

FIGURE 40 is a side view showing a simple arrangement for adjusting the spacing between the pick-up and the end of the reed;

FIGURE 41 is a side view showing a vibratory reed associated with a bridge type of pick-up;

FIGURE 42 is a front view of the dual pick-up arrangement shown in FIGURE 41;

FIGURE 43 is an electrical bridge circuit useful for increasing the translating efficiency of the capacitive pickup arrangement;

FIGURE 44 is a wiring diagram of a representative electronic translating system for transducing the modulations in capacity between the vibratory reed and pick-up;

FIGURE 45 is a fragmentary, plan view of an arrangement whereby the performer may alter the angular disposition between the reed and the pick-up to thereby alter tone quality;

FIGURE 46 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIGURE 45 and showing the face of the pick-up electrode lying in a plane normal to that of the reed;

FIGURES 47 and 48 are similar to FIGURE 46 but showing other angular dispositions of the pick-up electrode with respect to the reed;

FIGURE 49 is an isometric view of a vibratory reed and a magnetic type of pick-up having a polarizing magnet;

FIGURE 50 is an isometric view of a magnetic reed and electromagnetic pick-up;

FIGURE 51 is somewhat similar to FIGURE 50 but showing a tri-polar magnetic pick-up;

FIGURE 52 illustrates a magnetic pick-up and reed arrangement wherein the reed is made of magnetic material and magnetized longitudinally;

FIGURE 53 illustrates a magnetic pick-up arrangement wherein the core carrying the electrical pick-up coil has a plurality of discrete poles alined with individual reeds.

FIGURE 54 illustrates a magnetic pick-up arrangement wherein a plurality of series-connected, electrical pick-up coils and individual cores are disposed between adjacent reeds;

FIGURE 55 illustrates a photoelectric arrangement for translating reed vibrations and in which the optical system provides a parallel-ray beam of light;

FIGURE 56 illustrates a photoelectric arrangement wherein the light rays are brought to a focus at the edge of the reed;

FIGURE 57 illustrates a photoelectric arrangement wherein a parallel beam of light-rays is reflected from the surface of the reed;

FIGURE 58 is also a reflected light system but in this case the beam of light rays is brought to a focus on the reed surface;

FIGURE 59 is similar to FIGURE 58 but in this arrangement the light beam is brought to a focus on the cathode of the photocell;

FIGURE 60 is a wiring diagram illustrative of a formant circuit useful for controlling the output tone quality of my instrument;

FIGURE 61 illustrates a resistance-capacitance arrangement for regulating the band width of the mean frequency generated in a magnetic type pick-up;

FIGURE 62 is a circuit representation to illustrate various shunting arrangements of resistors and condensers that may be used to alter the character of the output tone;

FIGURE 63 is similar to FIGURE 1 but showing a key-operated plucker arrangement for setting the tuned reeds into vibration;

FIGURE 64 is a crosssectional view taken along line AA of FIGURE 63 to illustrate the mechanical linkage between the playing key and the vibration damper;

FIGURES 65 to 68 are cross-sectional views taken along the line B-B of FIGURE 63 and showing the plucker device in various positions relative to the reed;

FIGURE 69 is a fragmentary view showing a mechanical arrangement for providing a loud pedal eifect in the plucker arrangement shown in FIGURE 63;

FIGURE 70 is a side view illustrating another type of plucker device for exciting the vibratory reed; and

FIGURE 71 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIGURE 70.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, my instrument may be housed in a cabinet comprising a base 20, a back 21 and a lid 22 that is pivotally attached to the back by a hinge 23. The cabinet is substantially closed by a slidably-removable front board 24 having a felt strip 25 cemented, or otherwise secured, along the lower edge, as is common in piano construction. Inasmuch as my instrument does not employ tensioned strings the cabinet can be much smaller and lighter than conventional piano cabinets. In fact, as shown in the drawing the entire device is portable and may be placed upon a table, rubber feet 26 being provided for this purpose. The vibratory reeds 27 are individually secured to a metal reed base 28 that is fastened to the inner surface of the lid by the screws 29, each reed being held in contact with the said reed base by a cap screw 30 and associated washer 31. It may here be stated that the individual reeds have an end formed in a closed loop 32 which, in combination with the cap screw and washer, provides not only a convenient means for mounting the reed but also affords a means for adjusting the angular position of the reed and its spacing from the electrostatic pick-up electrode 33. Each reed carries a tuning-damper 34. A more detailed description of the reed construction and the function of the tuning damper will be given hereinbelo'w. The pick-up electrode 33 (of which there is one associated with each reed) is secured to an insulating bar 35 by a screw 36, said bar being secured to the reed base 28 by screws 37. A shim 38, of flat or of wedge shape, may be provided (if necessary) to adjust the position of the pick-up electrode with respect to the free end of the reed. It will be noted that the reeds and pick-up electrodes are mechanically attached to the reed base and, therefore, the entire assembly is readily accessible for adjustment, inspection, or replacement of elements by merely raising the hinged lid 22. The electrical circuit for translating the vibration of the reed into electrical variations will be described in detail below.

The keyboard of my instrument is identical to that of the conventional piano (except that all keys are straight), each key being pivotally retained in position by a pivot pin 41 extending upwardly from the cabinet base and passing through a tapered hole in the key. Smooth rocking motion of the key, in response to finger pressure applied to the outer end, is provided by the curved, pivot rail 42 spaced from. the key by a resilient washer 43. Excessive lateral motion of the key is prevented by the key guide pin 45 that is secured to the cabinet base and extends into a bore in the key, a resilient stop pad 46 serving to limit its downward motion and to deaden the contact noise when the key is depressed vigorously. A wood strip 47 secured to the base by screws 48 prevents the entrance of foreign objects between the base and the key and also enhances the general appearance of the instrument.

The inner end of the key 40 carries a capstan screw 50 adapted to strike the visco-elastic anti-rebound pad 51 secured to the hammer stem 52 that is pivotally attached to the hammer flange 53 by a pin 54, said flange being secured to the cabinet back 21 by the screw 55. Alternatively, the pad 51 may be mounted on the head of the capstan screw 50, or in an axial recess provided in the head for this purpose. A hamrmer head 56, made of suitable material, and carried by the free end of the hammer stem, is adapted to excite the reed by striking the tuning damper 34. It will be apparent that when the outer end of the key is depressed, energy imparted to the hammer stem will cause the hammer head 56 to strike the tuning damper 34 of the reed due to its momentum even though the angular motion of the inner end of the key is limited to a predetermined, minimum value. Consequently, the hammer head remains in contact with the tuning damper for a brief instant only after which it returns, by gravity action, and by the spring action of the reed, to the position shown in the drawing. Upon removal of the finger pressure from the key it will rotate in a counter-clockwise direction by reason of the key balance weights 5%, of lead, inserted therein. Return of the key to its normal position results in the hammer head 56 coming to rest on the down stop pad 59. The key stop pad 60 cushions the contact between the key and the base 20. I prefer to make the various pads of a viscoelastic material of soft, yieldable composition whose deformation requires energy expenditure and which remains constant over wide changes of temperature and humidity. Such materials as Vinylite, or butyl rubber in soft grades, are satisfactory. These are disclosed in more detail in my United States Patent #2,271,460, issued January 27, 1942.

To terminate the vibrations of the reed I provide a simple and efiicient damper consisting of a thin, bent wire carried by a damper rail 66 that is secured in relatively fixed position with respect to the instrument as a Whole. The free end of the wire normally contacts the side of the reed 27. The loop portion of the wire extends slightly below the surface of a felt pad 67 aflixed to the rail 66 and is adapted to be contacted by the head of a flathead screw 68 carried by the key 40.

The action of the damper mechanism is better illustrated in FIGURE 2, which shows a series of three reeds, dampers and keys, as seen from the inner end of the keys. The keys 40, 40 are shown in the normal (inner end aoaaaes down) position wherein the fiathead screws 68, 68" are spaced from the damper wires 65, 65" and, consequently, the wires 65, 65" will normally bein contact with the side of the respectively associated reeds 27, 27". When the playing key is depressed the inner end of the key rises, as shown by the key 40, causing the flathead screw 68 to strike the bent portion of the damper wire 65. As the fixed end of the wire is displaced laterally with respect to the point of contact between the wire and the screw head, the wire is twisted out of contact with the associated reed 27'. The adjustment of the reed exciter mechanism is such that the fiathead screw 68 removes the damper wire from contact with the reed just prior to the moment of impact between the hammer-head and the tuning damper. Therefore, the reed is set into free vibration and will continue vibrating until the playing key is released. Upon release of the playing key the fiathead screw 68 falls away from the wire loop and the damper wire contacts the edge of the reed thereby terminating the vibrations by sliding friction of the reed on the damper wire. This type of damper wire, which may be a wire or a strip, does not change the vibration frequency of the vibrator and the vibration decay time depends upon the pressure exerted by the damper wire against the edge of the vibrator. The decay time is not constant for all reeds and it will be apparent that the dampers associated with the low frequency, bass reeds should be stiiter than those for the higher frequenc, treble reeds. By proper bending of the individual dampers associated with specific reeds, the decay time, or damping characteristics, of my instrument can be made equivalent to the same characteristic in a conventional, tensioned-string piano.

An effect corresponding to that obtained when the loud pedal of a piano is depressed, is achieved, in my device, by moving the damper rail 66 as a whole, so that the damper Wires, while in their normal positions, are spaced from their associated reeds. Mechanisms for accomplishing this are quite apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, one such mechanism is shown diagrammatically in the drawing, wherein depression of a foot-pedal 70 causes a movement of the damper rail to the right. Release of the foot-pedal results in a movement of the damper rail to the left in response to the action of the spring 71. A ledge 72 in the damper rail serves as a stop against the fixed member 73 to thereby assure a return of the individual damper wires to a preset, operative position with respect to the individual reeds. The other end of the damper rail slides within the fixed member 74 thereby assuring proper alinement of the rail with respect to the heads of the screws 68, 63, 68", for all lateral positions of the rail. As in a conventional piano, operation of the loud pedal permits free, undamped vibration of all reeds struck while the pedal is depressed as well as resonant vibration of all other reeds.

A sostenuto arrangement may also be provided. For this, all dampers whose keys are depressed before the sostenuto pedal is depressed will be caught and held away from their reeds until the pedal is released, while all other dampers will react normally.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 3 and 4 which are fragmentary, plan views of an arrangement for providing a sostenuto effect in my vibratory reed piano. The showings are rather diagrammatic to facilitate an understanding of the mechanism for achieving this effect. As shown in FIGURE 3, the two reeds 27, 2'7 are of the type shown in FIGURE 1 being secured to the reed base by the screws 30 passing through the loop formed in the reed end (see FIGURE 1). Each reed is provided with a tuning damper 34. The damper wires 65, 65 are pivotally carried by the damper rail 66 and normally engage the edge of the associated reed, as shown. Disposed over the top of the damper rail is a slidable strip 75 that constitutes the working element of the sostenuto mechanism. This strip includes a set of fingers 76, 76' and transversely cut notches 77, the latter cooperating with the individual pins 78, that extend upwardly from the damper rail, to assure sliding, linear motion of the strip. A set of springs 79 each having one end secured to the slidable strip 75 and the other end secured to fixed members 80 normally bias the slidable strip against the fixed stops 81. In the normal position of the slidable strip the fingers 76, 76' lie spaced from the damper wires 65, 65 so that these damper wires are free to move in response to the motion of the individual capstan screws 68, 68 (see also FIGURES 1 and 2), as explained hereinabove. If, however, the slidable strip 75 is moved forward, in the direction indicated by the arrow a, in response to depression of the sostenuto pedal (not shown in the drawing) while one or more playing keys are retained in the depressed position, the fingers 76, 76 are brought forward into the path of travel of the damper wires 65, 65'.

The operative position of the sostenuto mechanism is shown in FIGURE 4. In this figure the slidable strip 75 has been brought forward after the playing key has raised the capstan screw 68 associated with the reed 27". Consequently, the damper wire 65 is caught behind the finger 76 of the slidable strip 75 and, therefore, the damper wire is prevented from returning to its initial position against the edge of the reed 27. This reed (and all others that may have been activated by depression of the playing keys prior to depression of the sostenuto pedal) will vibrate freely. Release of the sostenuto pedal permits the slidable strip 75 to move in the direction of the arrows b to its normal, inactive position, as shown in FIGURE 3 thus freeing the damper wires for return to their normal position in contact with the associated reed edge. It will be noted that when the slidable strip 75 is moved forward before the playing key has been depressed the damper wires are free to act in the normal manner. This is shown in connection with the reed 27, FIGURE 4, wherein the finger 76, while extending into the path of travel of the damper wire 65, nevertheless, permits free movement of this damper wire between the limits defined by the reed edge and the adjacent edge of the said finger. Thus, when the capstan screw 68 is raised, in response to depression of the playing key, the damper wire 65 occupies the position shown in FIGURE 4, that is, the free end of the damper wire is moved out of contact with the reed edge whereby the reed may be set into normal vibration. Upon release of the playing key the damper wire returns into contact with the reed edge terminating the vibrations.

It will now be apparent both reeds 27 and 27 may be re-excited by their respective hammers irrespective of whether the sostenuto pedal is or is not depressed. Furthermore, the loud pedal may also be used in either case to hold all of the damper wires out of the reeddamping position. -I, therefore, provide in my novel piano means for providing artistic rendition of piano music in a manner duplicating that available in the conventional, tension-string piano.

As stated above, and shown in the drawings, my invention makes use of fixed-free, cantilever-beam type vibrators in the form of small reeds that are tuned to provide the entire tonal range of the particular instrument. These reeds are securely anchored at one end and are free for unrestricted vibration between the fixed and free end. Their frequency is determined primarily by the length, mass per unit of length, thickness in the direction parallel to the direction of vibration and the material of which they are made. To raise the pitch of a reed, mass may be removed from the free end and for lowering the pitch, the compliance may be increased by grinding the reed to a thinner cross-sectional area at the fixed end. The material per se, the reed area normal to the direction of vibration, heat treatment and other factors relating to the internal structure, determines very largely the damping rate of the vibrations after excitation.

These reeds may be formed into a musical scale by varia tion of the length with fixed thickness, by variation of thickness with fixed length, by variation of thickness from end to end, by variation of width from end to end, by variation of loading at or near the free end, or by combinations of these variables. For purposes of simplicity the description will be restricted to reed scales in which discrete pitches are produced by variation of only the length of the reed.

Since reeds require, for best results, attachment to a relatively massive support, I prefer to make the reeds of relatively small size. As the reeds vibrate, they exert torsion forces on their support and these torsion forces tend to vibratorily rotate the support. Such support vibration may be communicated to the air as sound waves, or to the enclosing cabinet whose vibration will set up sound waves, both of these effects resulting in the dissipation of energy from the reeds and thus increasing their damping rate. Such vibration may also be communicated to other reeds having one or more partial tones in tune with the excited reed. Such other reeds will be excited resonantly through the vibration coupling, extracting energy from the excited reed. Even with dampers operative on these other reeds they will tend to vibrate resonantly and while the vibration 'will be absorbed by the dampers and dissipated as heat, the effect, nevertheless, is still extraction of energy from the excited reed.

I, therefore, prefer to use reeds of small mass and stiffness so that the mass and moment of inertia (about the point of attachment to the mounting support) may be reduced to a minimum consistent with the desired degree of damping of the reeds. This degree of damping should fall within the degree of damping range of acceptably good or excellent piano tones. On the other hand, the damping range may, in response to artistic demands, be made smaller or greater, as desired. The exciting devices may also be of small size, weight and space requirements made possible by the small amount of excitation energy required by the very small reeds. Furthermore, such small size reeds will radiate a minimum of direct acoustic sound because of their small area of coupling to the air, and because of the very much smaller vibration of the reed support which, relatively, has considerable air-coupling surface area. Small reeds, therefore, reduce, in general, all essential requirements of space, weight and exciting energy required and thus operate to keep the instrument small, low in weight, inexpensive, and having a very low direct sound output.

The reed material should be one that has a low internal hysteresis for vibration; is free from crystallization under continued vibration; has resistance to oxidation in salt air, and other deteriorating influences; can readily be formed in manufacture; and has ability to withstand slight bending adjustments without breakage. Preferably, the reed should be electrically conductive so that it may be used as a capacitive electrode for a pick-up device. However, for electromagnetic types of pick-up devices the reeds may be made of a material having magnetic prop erties. Also, for certain types of electrostatic pick-ups, the reeds may consist of a material having good dielectric properties whereby precision plastic molding techniques may be used for their manufacture. Such molded reeds are sufficiently accurate without further tuning adjustments and they may be molded in groups of many such reeds having specific, individual pitches, as in all-plastic harmonicas and accordions.

I have found that beryllium copper particularly, and also bronze alloys in spring tempered hardness, are satisfactory in all listed factors and some types of hard silver and nickel-silver alloys are also fairly acceptable.

For pitch scales of 4 to 5 octaves, variations of reed length alone is suflicient for practical musical scale design. For a range of 7 to 8 octaves it is, generally, desirable to vary other factors of pitch control.

Reeds of the type under discussion are poorly suited for the direct production of sound or for the production of good musical tones by use of customary methods of translating its motion, i.e., pick-ups placed on one side or the other of the reed face. This is particularly true when percussive excitation is employed.

No tension string ever attains the ideal called for by classical theory which demands a perfectly flexible strand. Actual piano strings would come much closer to the ideal string were they 50 or feet long in the base section and entirely unloaded. In the theoretically ideal string the partial tone components are all, up to the highest number, exactly integrally related in frequency to the fundamental and follow precisely the mathematical relationships set down by Fourier.

In practice, however, the strings, of even the largest concert grand piano, never attain this ideal because they are not perfectly flexible. This inherent stiffness, as shown by Seebeck and as proven by Schuck, Young and others, sharpens the pitch of each partial component somewhat more or less (depending on the string design) and progressively more so as the partial number increases in numerical value. For example, in a typical F3 piano string the second partial is 0.7 cent sharp (a cent being 1/100 of a semi-tone) while the thirteenth partial is 40.3 cents, or nearly /2 of a semi-tone, sharp. Furthermore, subjective fundamentals derived from neighboring partials have been shown to be as much as 1.4 cents sharp for the first partial and as much as 112.2 cents, or over one semi-tone, sharp for the twelfth partial.

In reed type vibrators, however, none of the partial frequencies are harmonically related and, in addition, there are large gaps in the series of partial tones. If we use Roman numerals to designate the partial number and Arabic numerals to designate the frequency ratios, we may compare the partial frequencies of idealized strings with those of fixed-free vibrators such as reeds.

It is seen that no two partials of the reed have integrally related partial frequencies, which is a requirement for perfect harmony. Further, the partials of the reed are very far apart in frequency at the lower end of the series, and decreasingly so as the partial numbers increase in value. It is obvious, therefore, that when all of the partials of a reed type vibrator are reproduced, either directly or by electronic techniques, the resultant tone is a mixture of wholly inharmonic components. Such vibrators with pick-ups placed at one side of the reed may serve fairly well for tones typical of bells or chimes, in which inharmonic partials are characteristic, but such vibrator is entirely unsuited for use in the production of piano tones by previously known methods. Another reason for this is that, as in a piano and other types of vibrators, the fundamental is always the strongest component (in amplitude) and the higher and higher numbered partials (Roman numerals) decrease progressively in amplitude, generally in inverse relation to the absolute frequency. The second partial II of a reed, which has a frequency of 6.27 times the fundamental, therefore, has an amplitude of vibration of about /5 to A that of the fundamental I, while the third partial III may have a vibration amplitude of only to X of the fundamental partial I.

For my stringless piano I have devised methods for use of vibratory reeds without the introduction of the inharmonic partials inherently characteristic of the reed. I provide combined loading and damping devices in the form of more or less viscoelastic masses, attached by cementing or otherwise, around the reed at critical positions along the axis thereof. This, I have found, elfectively eliminates, or reduces to inconsequential magni- 

